Candid Photography - Lots of bike commuters!

Today's photos are pretty raw and craptastic. Took quite a few from the hip or with a lot of zoom (and thus increased f/ and slower shutter speeds).
I was up really, really late last night. Crazy late. I probably would have had the legs for the full bike commute today but I was tired and feeling quite lazy. I slept in a bit and rode to the bus in my work clothes with the exception of my clipless shoes since my dress shoes are at the office. Just call me Fred.


This dumpster-destined Roadmaster bike was joined by a NEXT Power Climber last night, of nearly identical design to my first bike as a bike commuter. The Power Climber is gone this morning. This Roadmaster had absolutely nothing of use on it. I would have parted it out, otherwise. I just left it for someone else to mess with. It's repairable but it'd cost more than buying a brand new one unless somebody had brakes, cables, shifters, a new FD and a chain laying around.


The crazy bus ride. Here's a ridiculous story. This bus is pretty much packed to capacity although it's not standing room only. TheJO is actually sending around a second bus to follow this one for its entire route. If this one gets to standing room only, the standers can board the second bus.


Pardon my rant, but WHAT IN THE HELL?! First and foremost, almost half of the riders of this bus board at its last stop in Johnson County: Oak Pork Maul. This bus is never, EVER full before it gets to The Maul. Ever. Further, what is the matter with having to stand up for twenty minutes? 30% of the riders get off the bus at its first downtown stop, leaving ample seating room 20-25 minutes after boarding at The Maul. I have three suggestions:

1. Just send one bus. If people have to stand, call the waaaaambulance while playing Wintermärchen (a.k.a. Hearts And Flowers) on the world's smallest violin.
2. Send one bus straight downtown from the stop before Oak Pork Maul. Send a separate one specifically for the riders at Oak Pork Maul. At least you're not wasting twice the fuel following one bus with the other for the entire route.
3. Send the second bus straight to Oak Pork Maul and have it on standby if needed, while running the earlier part of the route with just one bus.

Come on, people. How hard is this?I took candid shots of only perhaps a third of the bizarre urban bike commuting creatures I saw while imbibing my caffeinated yumminess. This one was walking his bike while talking to a woman when he stopped to roll a cigarette.


A few seconds later, he was lit up and walking some more. Positively fascinating.


This one, in full office attire, was also walking his bike.


There is a fourth bike commuter in my building now. I saw him unloading an old Trek road bike from the back of a minivan, then locking up to the fence I used to lock to when I first started riding. He must not know there's a bike rack over where the motorcycles park. I've heard about this bike before from other cow-orkers but this morning is the first time I've seen it. I'm guessing he gets a ride with someone who works downtown but has a different homeward schedule, then rides home -- wherever that might be. I didn't get a chance to talk to him.

Tons of bikes on the buses, and a great many cyclists out riding on Main Street this morning sporting trunk bags, panniers, messenger bags, backpacks, and almost every kind of non-bike-specific clothing imaginable. People are either getting very smart or very, very desperate. I'll let you decide, but I think I know which one is prevailing.
Random Tunage:
Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles
Robert Miles - Children

Fun with cagers

Yesterday, I had a nice, pleasant ride home with the exception of crossing 67th street on the Turkey Creek Trail. All along the trail, road crossings are garnished with signs in the middle of the road with a stop sign saying "Stop for pedestrians in crosswalk" or something. These signs are almost universally ignored by motorists, who charge onward with cavalier abandon. One guy, though, knew exactly what he was doing. Westbound traffic stopped for me, and I entered the intersection. This usually gets the attention of eastbound traffic and they stop as well. A guy in a red pickup had other plans. With no intention of stopping, I raised my hands in a "what the hell?!" kind of fashion, to which he greeted me with the fickle finger of fate. As he passed, I yelled "you too, pal!" and he screeched on his brakes. I sealed the deal with "The stop sign was back here!" then carried on down the trail as he revved angrily and took off with a bark of the tires.

I usually dismiss such asshattery silently, but it felt good to let loose. More ironic is the fact that he then got stopped by a train because of his little display. Hope that 5 seconds you saved by illegally skating that crossing was worth the 5 minute delay to your day, numbskull! This was definitely a textbook cager (reckless or antagonistic motor vehicle operator that poses a threat to smaller vehicles, namely motorcycles and bicycles.)

Looking back, I guess the crossing of 67th street wasn't bad. I'll remember it with a smile for weeks to come. All in all, I made it back home pretty quick.

This morning, I was really, really tired and a little bit sore. By the time I get home tonight, I will have ridden the same number of round trips by bike this week as I'd ridden all of last month. My laziness in September is really hurting me this month. I haven't ached after 3 days of commuting in a long time. Despite my fatigue, I slipped out the door on time for a change thanks to the fact that I actually got all my stuff together last night. I also made it to work in a reasonable amount of time. For some reason, everything downtown was in my favor. The traffic patterns and the traffic signals gave me safe and solo passage all the way from the brewery to deep within the downtown loop. There were just as many cars as usual, they were just two traffic lights behind me the whole time, which was a bit odd. The signals stayed green just long enough for me to slip through ahead of everyone else, too.

Tomorrow, my boss is taking my security team (myself and two others) out to lunch somewhere out by Kansas Speedway, and tomorrow was already going to be frantic. The lunch is a good 15 miles from work, and almost 20 miles from home. There's no good way to bike to there, or bike home from there. In fact, I'd be forced to ride on a state highway with 55 MPH limits (70+ MPH traffic) and at-grade intersections for a few miles simply to get back across the Kansas river to have any hope of getting home. To make matters more complicated, I am making my monthly pilgrimage to the Maul tomorrow evening. I can hitch a ride to lunch with a co-worker. Getting to work and getting home from lunch will be interesting. We aren't coming back to work after lunch -- instead, it will be a "team building" outing.

I can't bring the bike to work, because my co-worker's Saturn won't hold it. I'll probably walk to the Maul (where the bus stop is) and catch the express bus. alternatively, I could take my hybrid and lock it up at the Maul and just pick it up when I get back down there tomorrow evening.

Then, there's the issue of getting home. It's *SORT OF* on the way to my co-worker's place, so perhaps I can catch a ride back with him as well. My wife was going to drive out there and pick me up after having some fun with me at Dave & Buster's since it's right close to where I'll be for lunch anyways, but she expressed a lack of interest in that option yesterday night. Gah. I'll hash this all out today.

Random Tunage:
The Act - Something about you

The Chain of Command

This morning, out of the blue, my chain started skipping. It felt like my rear derailleur was way out of adjustment, so I didn't think much of it. I was just riding to the bus stop at The Maul.

As I approached 95th street from Quivira, my left turn light lit up. Usually, I have to camp out at this intersection. This was A Good Thing, as I was running a bit behind schedule. I hammered it to make the light and the skipping got worse. Then I completely lost my power.

I figured the chain slid off the tall chainring, so I just coasted through the intersection which to my fortune was still green. I downshifted to the small ring, which usually brings the chain back into place, but it didn't. I looked down, and there was no chain (There was only Zuul)

I looked behind me and saw the bus approaching, too. Decision time:

1. Stop, walk back to where I dropped my chain, break out the chain tool and fix my bike then wait half an hour for the next bus?
2. Coast as far as I can (95th is a downhill to the Maul Parking Lot), walk the bike the last hundred yards or so, and catch the bus?

The chain has survived a winter of salt, grime, and abuse. I've kept it well lubricated, but you can only do so much. It's probably time for a replacement anyway.

As I write this, I'm on the Dreaded bus, heading home. The bus stops at a stansfer station for a good 15 minutes. This is why I can beat the bus home on my bicycle, when it's running properly.


I snapped these while walking to meet with an information security colleague of mine over lunch.

Having a case of the Mondays

Forgot to set my alarm. Woke up late.

Groggily checked bus schedule (I have it stored on my phone). Saw that the second bus would be at The Maul in 22 minutes. It takes me 10 minutes to ride there.

Got my clothes and lunch together, opting for only one pannier this morning. Threw everything on the bike and rushed out the door.

Arrived at The Maul, not quite in record time, before the time I thought I needed to be there.

The time I was expecting the bus to arrive comes and goes. I check the schedule again, and see that I was looking at the wrong location. So I stand in 31°F weather for 15 minutes longer than I need to, looking and feeling like an idiot. I could have made some breakfast for my wife and I in that 15 minutes!

Got to the office, only to find out that my access card was in the other pannier, at home.

Hey, at least I still made it to work at a reasonable time.

Here's something to kick off your (hopefully) short work week:

No snow. Yet.

I guess the flurries are supposed to hold off until later today. The Goat was smooth sailing this morning, though. I wasn't in much of a hurry, and just took my time. I've still got some sinus stuff. That was part of the reason. But it's also Friday, and if I start my Fridays off good, they seem to go by quickly and productively. That's a Good Thing^tm, because I have a LOT of stuff to wade through today. I threw some bananas in my backpack, left early, and had a nice, leisure-pace ride to the bus.

It's that time again. The monthly meeting at The Maul. There's really no quicker way for me to get home than by taking the Antioch bus like I have been recently. Due to the things we usually end up doing after The Maul, I'll probably go home first, then drive there.

Looks like I'll round out the first week of March with about 55 miles. I have a lot of catching up to do to make my goal of 5,000 this year. I'd prefer most of my miles come from commuting and errands, but I need to get a few nice, long fun rides in as well. I definitely need to get on board with some of c'Dude's Populaires. Especially the night-time ones. Oh yes. I love me some night riding. And now that I have the DiNotte, there's no excuse not to partake in a few night rides that would sap my modified NiteRider's 90-minute run time dry.

Alright, peeps. Time for coffee and work. Be on the lookout for another Top 10 this weekend. It won't be as caustic nor as curmudgeonly this time. I promise. Maybe.

Random Tunage:
Rico Soarez - Timeless
Green Day - When I Come Around

Nothing can prepare you for...

... THE MAUL!

First Friday of the month. Time to geek out. That's right, emo kids. We are taking your precious Oak Pork Maul by storm again this evening. Warning: annoying sound on that link. And judging from the Favicon, it appears to be served by Lotus Notes (a.k.a. Bloated Goats or simply Bloatus), which I loathe with a fierce passion.

Not much in the way of photos this morning. Tornadic cells popped up all over town around dusk. As those storms moved out, another big cell from the southwest brought insane straight-line winds in excess of 80 MPH through the area in the wee hours. Left toppled in its wake are countless trees, newspaper dispensers, trash cans and anything else that weighed less than 150 pounds and wasn't bolted down (and some things that were). At 6:00 this morning, the pavement was soggy. The air was thick with humidity. The air was completely and totally still. I had a really fast ride to the bus stop.

I have too much going on today to make the full ride, but the bus works. Lorin brought his best Tony Robbins impersonation to coffee this morning. Just... wow. There won't likely be anything worth mentioning this evening, but maybe I'll have something this weekend to talk about.

I just got word that the Quivira Park Rides are starting back up. This is a weekly ride on Saturday mornings with a fixed route of about 24 miles. The start/end point is about 5 miles due south of my apartment. I have ridden this route with Tim a time or two, but never with the actual Quivira Park guys. I may try this in the morning. Pics will follow if I do. I really need to get some miles this month. As much as I would love to rack up 100+ miles this weekend, I am a wimp that's nowhere near ready for any of Dave's crazy training rides.

Peace out. Have a good weekend.

Random Tunage:
White Zombie - Blur the Technicolor
Hybrid - Dreaming Your Dreams

Another whimsical musical musing... Hybrid is just great. If you haven't heard them or heard of them, give then a listen. It's ambient breakbeat electronic music backdropped with a full orchestra. Pretty sweet stuff.

That helped a bit...

I got about 10 hours of sleep total between when I got home and when I had to come to work. There was a bit of an awake-and-asleep volley until midnight, then it was a good five-hour solid block of slumber. I slept in our new recliner. Sleeping with my head elevated usually helps when I have a head cold so long as I'm cautious not to let post-nasal-drip turn into a chest cold or bronchitis. Of all the ailments that I loathe, bronchitis tops my list.

I awoke with clear sinuses and a bit of a frog in my throat. Somewhat expected but I'm still not 100%. With temperatures in the teens and wind chills closing in on zero, I wasn't going to risk a jaunt to The Maul. Instead, I took my bike with me on the Dreaded bus.

I happened upon Karen, who I guess took it upon herself to ride her bike both ways yesterday and got caught up in the cold front on her way home. She's sticking to the bus today -- A wise choice given the temperature. A few more weeks and I'll likely be able to start riding the full round-trip regularly again. Spring can't get here soon enough. The bus always lulls me to sleep both on the way to work and on my way home, making me groggy. Riding always seems to engage my senses and sharpen me up before work. It boosts my metabolism all day long and I seem to get better rest at night.

I did my usual cup o'Joe with JR this morning, with a tasty blueberry muffin. It didn't do much to hold off impending starvation, though. It's not even 10:00 and I'm famished.

I'm cautious to say I've fully conquered my cold virus for real this time since I still have a little bit of a tickle in my throat, but I feel a hundred times better today. The headache is gone, the nostrils are clear, my ears aren't ringing or in need of popping. Today is a good day. I'm still glad I didn't ride to The Maul, though. I'm not sure how I'll get home yet. It really depends on temperatures and how I feel. If I had to go right now, I'd go with the Dreaded Bus again. On the positive side, I might actually get a few miles in tomorrow.

Random Tunage:
Tilt - Places
Orbital - Science Friction

Darwinian Bicycle Security

When I got out of work, I was planning on heading to the L Bus, which makes a bee-line for The Maul when it leaves downtown. It wasn't there. I rushed over to the A Express bus stop. I was a few minutes late, but all the usual A-bus riders were standing around waiting. Ah, Holiday Schedule!

I bid the bus-waiting-folks farewell and took off for The Maul, despite not feeling too well -- still fighting some bronchitis. I rolled up to my usual parking spot, and found a Trek 800, completely unlocked, just sitting there. I pulled my front wheel off, used my heavy duty chain and cable lock to secure it to a natural gas pipe that goes from the sidewalk to the building (not visible in the photo really)

Basically, my bike was pretty much the most secure bike in town.


After the meeting, we all went to a local Thai spot. I rode with a friend, who brought me back after dinner. The Mall was almost an hour past closing time. Both bikes were still there. Strange.

19.2 miles for the day, and a throat that's a little more irritated than it was this morning.

The week's almost over!

I have my monthly meeting at the Maul tomorrow, and I'm having a hard time determining how I'm going to get there. I have ridden my bike there before. I've even posted about it. TWICE!
I'm not sure if that's in the cards for tomorrow, though. I may just do the bike commute and then drive to the Maul after I get home. We usually do quite a bit of running around after the meeting.

Tonight's ride back home was humid. It started off bright but quickly turned overcast. It wasn't much relief, though, as it didn't keep me from sweating. Today was another Ozone Alert day. I guess I was supposed to sit inside while riding my bike and playing in the park. Well, I didn't sit inside. I really don't notice lung irritation any worse than normal on ozone alert days. Then again, I'm not young nor elderly, nor do I have asthma or severe allergies.

Random Tunage:
Erasure - Always
Peaches - AA XXX (Double-A, Triple-X)

Took the bus this morning

150 miles in 4 days. I know, it sounds kind of wimpy (at least given my stats from July), but it's all I had in me. Last night, my legs were pretty torn up. I'd already decided to take the bus this morning before I went to bed. This morning, the ol' leggies were down-right sore.

Last night's ride wasn't bad. In fact, the weather was beautiful with the exception of some headwind. I was getting worn out pretty quick on the home stretch, though.

I have my monthly meeting at the Maul tonight, so I'm not sure how I'm getting home. I need to go home before the Maul anyways, so if I'm feeling up to it, I might ride the whole way, but I'll probably just wimp out and take the express bus again. Who knows?

Funnest ride in recent memory

... of course, that's not saying much given that I've barely broken into 3 digits for my miles this month...

Photo: obligatory timed shot in the snow, taken while waiting for the bus.

I knew it would likely be snowing. Although my little slice of the troposphere was nowhere near as rimy as some of the days we've already had, I opted for the ski goggles to keep the snow out of my eyeballs, and for that I was thankful.

When I got out of my apartment, a fresh, clean layer of powder awaited me. The parking lot was loaded with a few inches of powder: pristine, unplowed, untrodden. What have you. On my way up the Quivira viaduct, I got myself into the zone, spinning away and climbing at a stone-solid 10 miles per hour. I was huffing and puffing through my balaclava, but I wasn't getting fatigued. What's funny is that the cars were having a rough go of it as well, often not going much faster than I before their wheels spun freely against the snowpack.

Once at the maul, I rode around and around until the bus showed up. I made bizarre patterns in the snow. I tried to ride as fast as I could. I tried locking my brakes up and sliding around. I really do love playing in the snow this time of year! It even looks like Warren has seen the light of snow biking.

Random Tunage:
Information Society - What's on your mind (Pure Energy)
Crystal Method - Born too slow

I can has sleep now plz?

What a night!

The Monday night ride was somewhat brutal. Cold and very windy. I guess it wasn't too bad, but it was hard to regulate my temperature without dropping everyone, and it's marketed as a slow ride.

When that was all done, I picked up some grub, packed up my things for the morning commute, then went to the hospital, where my wife has been since early Sunday morning. I spent the night there. Initially, I tried sleeping in a chair with another chair facing me to rest my legs on. That lasted until sometime around 3:00 AM with no sleep lasting more than 15 minutes or so at a time, thanks to discomfort and constant interruption of nurses for various issues with both my wife and her roommate. Back killing me, I grabbed a sheet and lay on the cold, hard tile floor, resting my upper body and head on a pillow. I finally got to sleep around 3:30, slept until 5:30 with lots of tossing and turning, then got my stuff together and got out.

Since I left the bike in the back of my wife's Explorer, I just took my old clothes and some of my wife's stuff down there, then geared up the bike. It was a little above freezing this morning, and the hospital is almost the same distance from The Maul as my apartment, so the ride took just as long. It's uphill most of the way, and there was a stiff (and cold!) headwind to fight with. Approaching 103rd, I saw a blinkie. I knew it had to be Lorin. I played catch up for a while, then succumbed to the uphill, headwind death slog. My legs just didn't have anything in them after last night.

I think my wife will finally get discharged today sometime. She's basically lived in the hospital for almost 3 days at this point. We're just waiting on some doctors to look over the diagnostics they've been doing. It's been a rough couple of months for the both of us, so hopefully this represents the apex and decrescendo of all the medical drama.

Random Tunage:
Orbital - Halcyon + On + On
Underworld - Cowgirl

Oddly enough, both of those tracks WERE really played at random from a playlist of 873 songs, but both were also featured in the movie "Hackers"

Blur

That's exactly what this week has been.

Tuesday, I went to the CCCKC Underground Lab to determine what the space needs.  Tuesday night and Wednesday, I worked in Google Sketchup to draw out a floor plan for what I see the space looking like to meet the group's needs. I like Sketchup. 

Last night, I went to the group meeting (Weekly, every Thursday) and presented my floor plan to them. If you're interested, I created a virtual walk-through with Sketchup Screen shots. This morning, Lorin said "It's basically a MAN-CAVE, right?"  Not quite.  A Hackerspace is simply a physical location where hackers, tinkerers, programmers, entrepreneurs and scientists can go to collaborate or work on their projects.  It's very similar to a bicycle co-op except with electronics, computers, robotics and security stuff.

To make things even better, the CCCKC Underground Lab is actually quite easy to access by bicycle, and it's pretty much right along my bicycle commute route. Dude, I mean it's in a freaking CAVE! How cool is that?!

Several members are also cyclists. We joked last night about installing a bike rack in the carpeted hallway outside our door, but in reality we'll probably just wheel our bikes into the meeting room when it's not being used for presentations.

Lunch yesterday. These heating instructions made me laugh.

Riding to Cosentino's (the new/only grocery store downtown) is a good 5x faster than walking there. I was out there and back in a flash. I think the Trek 820 next to my bike belongs to someone who works at Cosentino's. It's locked there every single day, but parked differently each time.

This morning: Felt like I got hit by a truck when I woke up, but enjoyed riding in short sleeves. Mid-40s this morning, and predicted by some to maybe get into the 70s this afternoon.  

Tonight: The first Friday meeting at The Maul with some of my friends.  Like I said, this week's been a blur. 

Random Tunage:

Katharine McPhee - Over It

K's Choice - Not an Addict

Mediocre Bus

If there's any bus that could possibly take longer than the Dreaded Bus to circumnavigate downtown KCMO to get to my little slice of suburbia, it's the Johnson County Transit's M (Mid-Day a.k.a. Mediocre) bus. The Dreaded Bus takes about an hour and 10 minutes to run. It picks me up a block away from work and can drop me off a few hundred feet from my apartment. The Mediocre Bus, as I shall christen it, takes about the same amount of time with the additional hassle of dropping me off at the Maul, 2 miles from my mayhem-plotting headquarters.

With all of my required weekly tasks complete, a head full of mucous, and a body that's feeling weaker by the minute, I decided to bail early and take my chances with the Mediocre Bus this once.

My plan is to get home, refuel, over-hydrate, then go to sleep for as long as I possibly can.

By the way, the contest is still on. The current person in first place is still more than half a pound off, so there's a whole pound's worth of guesses that will come closer than our current winner. Contest ends tomorrow right before midnight, so get your guesses in to win the Jersey! It's not yellow. It won't make you fast, but it is a Jersey that would normally retail for about $70 that you could get for free. It might also make Fritz laugh at you. No guarantees, though.

Random Tunage (Valentine's Day Luuuv Song Edition):
Peter Cetera - You're The Inspiration (new version) [Re-make? Cover? of the Chicago Song]
Steve Winwood - Higher Love

Too nice to waste it

It was just awesome this afternoon. I had a meeting until 3:00 and nothing to do after that, so I escaped a little earlier than usual today. The temperature was perfect, traffic hadn't kicked up too much yet, and winds were minimal. I couldn't waste it. I hit the bike, and got home a little after 4:00. A quick soap-ninja scrub-down and some errands (by car, sadly) later, I was ready to go to the meeting.

We're probably going all over the place after the meeting, so no bike at the Maul tonight.

Sunday I was hoping for a 150-mile week. I ended up packing almost 170 in, and that's assuming I don't get on the bike at all this weekend.

Not a perfect start to November, but it's close.

Random Tunage:
Peaches - AA XXX
Mittelstandskinder Ohne Strom - Live Tropical Fish

White Christmas

Happy Christmas Eve Day! We did get a few inches of snow last night, and so long as it stays below freezing, we'll have a white Christmas after all. I was greeted this morning with the following:


The layer of ice on the road was covered with packed snow, so getting to the bus this morning was a breeze.


A big farm tractor with a 10-foot-wide blade on the front was clearing the parking lot at The Maul, revealing the layer of ice beneath. Fortunately, The Goat is surefooted and stable. I'm running the tires at about 30 and 35 PSI front and rear respectively. This helps them float on snow as well as allowing the full width of the tread get some purchase on ice. It sacrifices efficiency in most situations, but I've found it's actually easier to ride over deep snow with low pressure tires than otherwise. The traction benefits are a good trade-off, too.

I took this HDR while waiting for the bus.


Random Tunage:
Nine Inch Nails - Sunspots
µ-Ziq - The Fear

A day off...

Well, pretty much everything is lined up for the convention later this week. I had everything ready to go for this morning, and had a lot of trouble sleeping last night thanks to a combination of the heat and a killer headache. I was planning on making the full ride to work today, then taking the bus home. It just wasn't in the cards. I took a sick day.

I did a lot of pedaling on Friday night, most of it after dark. I took the bus to get closer to home. With a heat index over 100 Degrees and only one water bottle with me, the whole trip home would have been miserable. I rode to The Maul to hang out with some friends before grabbing supper at the Chinese buffet. Once we were done eating, I parted ways with that group to go meet another batch of local nerds at Daily Dose. All in all, I rode more just navigating to my various social events than if I'd ridden all the way home and used my car for the night's festivities. Even after dark, the heat index stayed in the 90s until well into the night. I'd hardly call it a cool evening ride.

I've started to realize while experimenting on the roads that suburban bike commuting gives you a pretty keen sense of what residential roads go where, even if you've never used them before. In neighborhoods carved up with mile-after-mile of winding, maze-like cul-de-sacs, I can usually find a pretty direct path through without the help of a map, and usually without getting dead-ended anywhere. Friday night's after-dark jaunt through Johnson County's "Windham" subdivisions would prove to be no exception to this rule. Of course, part of my navigation skill could have come from my two years delivering pizza in Olathe, but I feel like I've learned a lot more about the lay of the land in the last 8,000 miles or so on a bike than I did covering 2,000 miles a month in the car.

I'll probably ride to work Tomorrow and Wednesday, but opt for the bus on the return trip. Wednesday night, I head to Vegas.

October Recap

(Photo: parking garage at the maul this morning)

First off, MY WIFE IS HOME! Wh00t! The next few days will probably give us a better idea how she's going to do in the long run. She got discharged at 2:00 today, and I had to grab my steed and go full gallop to get home as fast as I could. Side note: I'm a slow Clydesdale, so most roadies might consider my gallop to be more like a trot.

Now, for the good (more miles than I expected for october), the bad (a long ways to go), and the ugly (me).

I actually managed to slack off a lot this month with 18 of my one-way commutes being by bus. Back in January, I envisioned October to be one of those smooth-sailing months where 300 miles would be sufficient. The reality is that I logged about 500 miles, but still leave October 280 miles behind schedule.

I only got two recreation rides in (the Dark Side Ride and one Monday Night Ride), but made up for it with quite a few errands and rides to church.

Commuting: 387 Miles
Recreation: 52 Miles
Errands: 58 Miles

Black Friday 2007: Doom, despair!

Mad props to whoever can tell me what movie the above image is from. I think it's pretty obscure (I could be wrong) but it's one of my faves.

I woke up to check the weather, and temps had crashed into the mid 10's. I can't even believe that Monday's ride home was 75 degrees! That's a huge disparity, and both were way outside our averages: Average high is 48; Average low is 30.

I Started with my wicking thermal base layer, then added my cargo pants. I double-layered my socks, Dug out the Thinsulate (tm) ski-gloves and used the inner, thick layer to my ski jacket. My tattered, knit balaclava covered my ears and face, while full, clear safety goggles kept the breeze and debris off of my eyeballs. It's not nearly cold enough for ski goggles yet, and the ones I have are tinted, which would be a bad thing in the morning.

So, I pedaled off into the brumal ambiance, well prepared for the temperature. My gear was perfect, if not just a little tiny bit on the warm side up top for my short commute. I didn't sweat, but I definitely didn't need to warm into my commute, either.

I found it ridiculous that Johnson County Transit sent a 40' bus out for my route this morning. Usually, we pack it full, almost to capacity (about 50 people) but they should have known that riders would be sparse this morning. I shared a 40' bus that likely gets 5 MPG with one other person. That's it. The two of us could have gotten better fuel economy driving a pair of Chevy Suburbans downtown by ourselves. Oh well, at least I'm not directly paying for the fuel, and I'm still saving wear and tear on my car, having fun on my bike and avoiding the parking fare.

Since I was riding to the bus, I had to navigate the bizarre phenomenon of rush-hour at 6:00 AM. Usually, I see one or two cars on my way to the bus stop. Riding on Quivira this morning really was just like riding it at 5:00 PM. There were cars everywhere, bullying each other around, trying to get into or out of parking lots, and all that jazz. It doesn't help that my bus stop is at the most popular shopping maul in Johnson County, and to get to my bus stop, I have to ride past a Sam's Club, Circuit City, Best Buy, and Toys 'R' Us. The traffic choppers above completely eschewed the highways, instead providing airborne coverage of parking at Black Friday shopping hot-spots.

Consume. Obey. Conform. Submit to authority.

Random Tunage:
GMS - Shrek
Ben Folds Five - Brick

Firestone

It looks like Demolition's about to begin at the abandoned Firestone Building by Oak Park 'Maul'.


I took the later bus this morning. I was up pretty late working on some pet projects, the results of which I'll share with you at the end of this post. This allowed me to watch the sun come up. That makes me happy.



This is The Blackintosh. It's a Mac SE/30 From 1989 or thereabouts. Yes that means it's about 20 years old. I took the photo about 10 years ago before I went to DefCon 7 in Las Vegas. I used an Apple QuickTake 100, which was cutting-edge at the time. I did 'photoshop' this (I used GIMP, actually) to remove some unsightly clutter from the left.

Why am I posting a photo of a 20 year old computer on my bike blog? Well, because I had to carry a ton of parts for it (more like 12 pounds) on my way to work today, and I'm heading to the CCCKC Cave after work to hopefully get this beast back up and running for a presentation on using old computers.

I've got a LOT of really old computers. I happen to have two fully-functioning Mac SE/30s like this. I painted this one for reasons unknown. While both of them boot, I've found that MacOS 7 isn't really conducive to getting anything done. When you throw something like Linux (in my case, NetBSD) on it, though, you end up with a cute, tiny machine that can do basic text-only things such as email, light-duty web surfing, word processing and other fun stuff.

A lot of midnight oil was burned into the wee hours of this morning in an attempt to get things working properly for the little Blackintosh. Here's hoping the presentation goes smoothly this evening...